Friday, September 18, 2009

It was better back when, part two

Here's a NY Times article and, if you're still skeptical, a video, featuring a 2009 Chevy Malibu and a 1957 Chevy BelAir hitting head-on. The video is a bit creepy: Dummies flopping in the cars and the collision repeated again and again as seen by various cameras inside and outside of the cars.

It's creepy - but it's convincing. Check it out.... It was made by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. I trust those people the way I trust big oil. Don't you? Hard to fake this film though, I'd say, and not much to be gained by scaring folks out of their old Chevys. Right?

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

All those folks in Cuba still driving these old cars need to be concerned! Cars like this should have serious tax/fees placed on them when it comes to license plates. That way the well-off car show enthusiasts can keep 'em for their occasional use while the average person will have a real economic incentive to replace 'em with something safer and more kind to the environment.

Not that it would have made a lot of difference, but if you really looked for them, you could get seat belts for a '59. My mother was a huge believer in them, from very early on. When we bought a new '55 Ford, its first stop was the Mickey Thompson Speed Shop for seat belts front and rear.But the way the car just imploded in the video is really scary. Makes me want to replace everything I drive, including my Litespeed, with a Hummer!!!

As I put up (on my blog page) links to magazines that feature my work....

...I realized that some do not include my pieces in their online version. I contribute to a UK magazine called Motorcycle Sport and Leisure. MCSL runs a column each month with a photo, a full page, but does not include my page in their online edition.

If you read my blog and are aware of such links, let me know, please. Funny, for years I didn't care about my stuff appearing online. Now I'm disappointed to see that it doesn't....

From the clip 'n' strap crypt

The original drawing, compliments of David Brinton!

You Ride Anyway

David Brinton's Original Cartoon illuminating the story

Flying Hoosiers Hill, 1965

Riding my lovely old Bultaco 200 Matador, I am about to flip over backward on the very steep grade of FH Hill, near Bloomington IN. Had I been a better rider, I would have been the first person to climb that hill on a mere 200... Sigh...

Nelson Ledges OH, 1965, post-race

In this shot taken by a friend, I'm winding down with a cigarette after road-racing my motorcycle on a circuit in northern Ohio. I'd borrowed the leathers I'm wearing, the van I drove to get there and the money I spent to put gas in its tank. I probably bummed that cigarette...

'Mid-'90s, Mavic Motor

At Trenton, NJ, Bart and I provide "neutral" wheel and mechanical support for racers from all teams. We typically follow the breakaway; team support cars are not permitted to enter the gap between pack and break until the gap grows to over a minute...

About Me

I'm living happily in Denver with my wife Tamar. I've been contributing columns to bicycle magazines since 1983 and motorcycle magazines since '85.
These days, my work appears monthly in two motorcycle magazines: CityBike (SF) and Motorcycle Sport and Leisure (UK).